Various consumable food products contain bitter substances which adversely contribute to the overall flavor impact of the food. In many instances, the flavor quality of such food products would be improved if the bitter notes could be removed or diminished while at the same time preserving the contribution made to overall flavor by the non-bitter flavor components. Thus, food products such as beer, coffee, and soft drinks sweetened with non-nutritive sweeteners may possess bitter flavors or after-flavors that are generally regarded as undesirable by many consumers.
Several processes have been described for reducing the bitter notes commonly found in non-nutritive sweeteners such as saccharin, cyclohexylsulfamic acid, dihydrochalcones, stevioside, xylitol and the like. U.S. Pat. No. 3,296,079 discloses the addition of 0.003% to 160% maltol to comestibles sweetened with non-nutritive sweeteners to mask unpleasant aftertaste. U.S. Pat. No. 4,304,794 describes addition of aliphatic polyols to minimize the bitter aftertaste of 2,4,6,3'-tetrahydrozy-4'-methoxydihydrochalcone. The bitter aftertase of saccharin is diminished through mixture with monellin and thaumatin in U.S. Pat. No. 4,758,438, with ribonucleosides, ribonucleotides and their deoxy analogs in U.S. Pat. No. 3,647,482, and with D-galactose in U.S. Pat. No. 3,667,969.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,908,026 and 3,907,028 teach that when paramethoxycinnamaldehyde (PMCA) is mixed or codissolved with other known natural or synthetic sweetening agents, the resulting composition has enhanced sweetness characteristics. The patent further disclosed that PMCA enhanced the flavor characteristics of vanillin and of instant coffee while suppressing the bitterness associated therewith.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,924,017 discloses that salts of chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, cynarine, and their isomers impart a very pleasant sweet character to non-sweet foodstuffs or to foods of very low sweetness such as water and milk and that the composition contemplated therewith would effectively mask any unpleasant taste. It was further disclosed that relatively large amounts of the salts are needed to induce the sweetness, a minimum of 0.3-0.5% for more sensitive tasters and 1-3% for the average individual.